A former top aide to U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was sentenced Monday to four months of house arrest and three years' probation for failing to pay taxes on $264,000 she earned as a taxpayer-funded consultant.

Cheryl Mobley, 55, blamed her crimes on the stress of an abusive and disintegrating marriage, and her lawyer argued that she suffered from mental health problems. A skeptical prosecutor called the claims "shallow, false excuses" and said anyone facing prison would be anxious and depressed.

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The proceeding brought to a quiet close a federal probe that once threatened to entangle Fattah, one of Philadelphia's most prominent Democrats.

FBI agents began scrutinizing those funds after an audit raised questions about the grant spending. According to a memo filed by prosecutors, the alliance improperly used the grants to hire Mobley as a consultant and pay her nearly $107,000 in 2005 and 2006 - including a $25,000 "up-front payment." At the time, she was also being paid more than $100,000 a year as a consultant by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

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What Mobley did as an educational consultant was unclear. She and her lawyer declined to comment after the hearing. But she told the judge she had not worked since 2009, is studying for a divinity degree, and recently applied for state early retirement benefits.

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